Wargaming is one of the companies that never disappoints when it comes to booths at Gamescom, and they didn’t disappoint this year either. Huge booth with a bloody tank in the middle. But it isn’t what they can show at the consumer area with awesome stage shows etc. No, you are here to read about what I learned from one of the biggest titles Wargaming has, World of Tanks. A minor introduction, I were booked at multiple World of Tanks appointments, a hands-on session with World of Tanks VR and AR, and then a presentation of World of Tanks Mercenaries behind closed doors.
But let’s start off with my experience with World of Tanks VR.
I entered a big room with multiple HTC Vive’s over my head, as I was being connected to the headset I entered the garage where I could choose a tank. As World of Tanks VR is still at a relative early stage in its development, the diverse tanks that I could choose from was few.
By moving my head I could turn my turret around and orient my tank, and by using the controllers in my hand I could move back and forth, as well as taking the shoots.
It took me a few minutes to get used to the controllers, but when I got the hang of it (sadly at the end of the match though) it was pretty awesome!
The match itself was a free for all match between four players, compared to the original game the map is very small size. I found that to be a very positive thing, as the match didn’t ending up looking for enemies all the time. We do get a vast of variation of landscape and multiple paths to drive on. I didn’t get motion sickness after my 20 minute playthrough, so I would say that gameplay mechanics is pretty much spot on. I tried to get a few answers from one of the developers who was present at Gamescom, such as if this title would be free to play, will event modes such as Frontline be available, etc. But for now, the developers and Wargaming are keeping their cards close to their chest.
World of Tanks AR Spectate was an interesting experience. The whole idea is to spectate an WOT match through AR by using a tablet. In this case I held an iPad looking over a big table of “AR codes/pictures.” And I must say, it was a blast and the graphics was gorgeous no matter the angle I tried to look from. One thing they can be proud of, everything ran in stable 60fps.
Wargaming also had some news regarding the new update for World of Tanks: Mercenaries. Some of the Merc vehicles that are on the way with update 4.6:
- Thresher: a well armored light tank with an aggressive weapon. He is driven by Dark Fox, a New Zealander who served under British command during the Second World War, before becoming renegade to avenge himself on the Axis powers.
- Long Reach: a heavy tank that combines the best of British, German and Soviet engineering. He is led by Brutal Beast, a Swiss ex-spy who travels throughout Europe to liberate cities and their inhabitants from German rule.
- Sharpshooter: This medium-sized tank combines equipment from Axis and Allied tanks into a manoeuvrable vehicle that delivers a reliable shot. It is under the command of Red Sentinel: this Italian soldier has gone crazy in the heat while holding his position against waves of Allied soldiers in a small Tunisian town.
One of the biggest new features they’re adding into Mercenaries, is the trajectory view. The all new camera will follow the trajectory of the projectile, always with the tank as the central point. This will of course “steal” a few seconds of gameplay, but in return you might feel closer to the action. Players can also be looking forward too new a growing skill tree and new tier x vehicles in the Chinese and British skill trees. Two new maps are being added as well, Caen-1944 and Operation Sealion, The Pearl River will also join the map rotation.
There is a lot more minor details that’s being added as well, so be sure to update World of Tanks: Mercenaries on your console on 28th of August.
